Month: December 2020

Business Closures Change Holiday Plans

Interior Design Trends

Across the country, newly mandated shutdowns have sparked fear and concern for many.

Particularly in California, after Governor Newsom announced a second mandated restaurant closure, millions across the state were left shaken with the news. With the winter holidays just weeks away, this shut-down has come at perhaps the worst possible time of year. Yet after the COVID case numbers have rapidly risen over the past few months, a shut-down appeared to be the only solution available for halting the spread of Coronavirus. Other major cities across the country have enacted similar stay-at-home mandates in order to curtail the spread during the most dangerous months of the year. Many of us can expect at least three weeks of no in-person dining as well as a significant reduction in retail shopping capacity.

This news has certainly caused a widespread shift for the year’s most anticipated gift-giving holidays, and we can expect to see these parameters reflected in consumer purchasing behavior this December. What are some expected shopping trends this holiday season?

Online Ordering

For one, the vast majority of holiday shopping will be done online from the comfort and safety of our homes. And while this is quite saddening for many who rejoice in the holiday shopping outings, it truly will help keep us safe this holiday season. Plus without the ability to dine at restaurants, a holiday shopping experience just isn’t the same.

DIY Stocking Stuffers

Second, we can expect a lot more homemade gifts and DIY presents this year filling our stockings and waiting under the tree. Luckily, homemade presents are actually a great excuse to flex your creative muscles and share some activities with friends and family. The image of sitting around a table making thoughtful gifts is actually, in many ways, much more aligned with the holiday gifting spirit than going on a consumer-driven shopping spree for easy gifts. So if you’re feeling creative, here’s a list of some fun ideas for homemade presents:

Homemade treats (holiday cookies, lemon bars, or fudge)
Framed pictures of some of your favorite memories. You can even decorate wooden frames for a personalized touch!
Wooden cutting boards. While this requires a little bit more skill, it’s a great entry-level woodworking project that would be a fun thing to do as a family. You can even personalize the cutting boards by carving names into them as final touch.
Paintings or drawings. Try your hand at painting a special photo that means something to the receiver. They’ll love seeing the memory encapsulated in paint!
A recorded song or album. This one is particularly creative and highly personal. Your gift recipient will feel honored to be thought of and included in your creative process.

Home for the Holidays

The other big category that we can expect to be a hit this holiday season are helpful home goods and appliances. With so much time spent at home during this past year, people have their interior spaces close in mind. Consider helpful gadgets, kitchen appliances, and even space-saving solutions for your friends and loved ones. So whether this gift will be written on your personal wish list, or for a family member, consider the wonderful gift of extra space. We know that might sound odd- but think about it. One of the biggest necessities of 2020 was having enough personal space to get through the day while stuck indoors with roommates or family members. And with months of indoor time on the horizon, perhaps some solid spatial solutions would be the perfect present this year. Luckily, the Sliding Door Company has it all.

From sliding glass barn doors to floor to ceiling wall partitions, these spatial solutions integrate flawlessly into larger shared spaces or rooms within your home all while maintaining a beautiful modern aesthetic. So if you’re like the millions of Americans who crave to bring peace, privacy, and productivity into the home as soon as possible, sliding wall dividers and other space optimizing solutions are practically begging to be brought home. Whether these space optimizers will be used to construct your new home gym, your much-needed Work-From-Home office space, or as a play-place for the kids, you’ll be wishing you’d invested in them sooner. With The Sliding Door Company’s glass wall partitions, glass room dividers, or sliding pocket doors for the bathroom, the options are truly endless!

You’ll have no trouble finding a special present this year for your loved ones. Stay home, shop online, and check us out online today to learn more about your sliding solutions! Schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our team members and view our online catalog to discover what glass solution suits your needs specifically!

Interior Re-Organization For The New Year

This year is finally coming to a close, despite how, for many of us, it’s felt like a lifetime since things were normal, pre-COVID. Now is the time to start thinking about what kind of interior environment you want to enter the new year in. Interior remodeling or reorganizing is a great way to emotionally reset after periods of stress, uncertainty, or change. Cleaning out closet spaces, updating your wardrobe, or even tackling a yard project are all such cathartic exercises and act as a wonderful outlet for reorganizing your mind and your goals moving into the next chapter.

When we begin to go through older items or material possessions that no longer serve us, we are able to cleanse and release attachments to pieces or times of our life that we no longer need. So if you’re interested in tackling some interior spaces this fall, good on you! And to help you through the process, we’ve put together a list of tips to help get you going! First things first.

Start Small

Start by tackling the smaller spaces first, a.k.a. closets, and bathrooms. After all, an unorganized closet is like a runaway train, there’s no telling where it’s going and when it will stop. It’s a good idea, in general, to go through your closets at least four times each year in order to stay on top of all the chaos. It’s helpful to remind yourself what clothes and other items you have to pick from, and also to decipher between what is being used and what truly isn’t. Too many of us hold onto things that we don’t ever use or wear solely because they hold a certain sentimental value. And after years of these items collecting and compounding, we wind up living amongst too much. Having too many personal items can distract one from feeling comfortable and relaxed in their own home. And who would want that? Especially during this year, when we’ve lived indoors for the majority of the day, we want our spaces to feel fresh, clean, and comfortable, not packed with messy unnecessary items. Oftentimes, we fail to recognize when we are living in chaos and why we’re feeling overwhelmed. As if this year wasn’t overwhelming enough, having an unorganized, overpacked home is definitely not a good place to call a sanctuary. So what can you do about it?

Space Savers

Pull everything out of your closet and lay it out on the floor or on your bed so that you can get a full view and understanding of everything that you’ve been holding onto. After taking it all in, systematically go through each item and put them in different piles. Make a “keeping” pile, a “donating” pile, and also a “maybe” pile. After doing several rounds of this system of organization, you’ll be able to really hone in on what items you want to keep and what you can safely ditch. And before you put them back in the closet, make sure to thoroughly clean, dust, and wipe down the surfaces so you can return your belongings to a clean environment. Additionally, you should consider installing Sliding Glass Closet Doors to replace normal front opening doors. These sleek, modern closet sliding doors add an updated aesthetic to any space while simultaneously affording you more floor area than typical swing doors. This means more space to sprawl! The Sliding Door Company crafts beautifully designed, sturdy sliding doors, Bathroom Pocket Doors, and glass wall partitions that elevate indoor environments and help families organize their interiors one solution at a time. They can be professionally installed in a matter of hours and require no construction. See, there’s no reason to put off your closet reorganization when you have the help of the experts in the field!

Deep clean

After reorganizing and restructuring your closets, donating your unwanted items, and tackling your excess goods, it’s time to deep clean those interiors! Arm yourself with all the necessary cleaning equipment such as:

rubber gloves
face mask
brooms
swiffers
glass cleaner
surface spray
disinfecting wipes
dusters

Starting with the sweeping and mopping, you’ll then work your way onto windows, surfaces, bathtubs, the kitchen counters, and so on. Starting the winter season off with a clean, well-organized home will make a huge difference this year!

Now that you have the basics for transforming your home into a clutter-free sanctuary, it’s time to get to work! For more info on the floor to ceiling wall partitions and sliding glass barn doors from The Sliding Door Company, book a free consultation with one of our representatives and start your home renovation today!

Interiors for the Modern WFH Professional

Working from home has been a challenge for just about everybody this year. Especially as a professional bringing your work home, it’s not always easy to find the space and sanctuary one needs to put in a full day’s work. Especially if you live with other roommates, or simply don’t have the space you need for a home office (like a whole extra bedroom), making an office out of your living room is not ideal. Because of this predicament, many have sought entirely new living situations and have packed up entire lives just to afford more space to work from home. But if moving apartments isn’t an option, and if you don’t have the time or resources for heavy construction, how can you craft a home office within your sprawling apartment affordably and swiftly? What options do you have?

Bringing the office home without compromising the aesthetic or functionality of your luxury apartment has been a constant struggle for any working professional this year. Let’s change that. Here are the top spatial solutions for your new work-from-home lifestyle.

Bookshelves

A smart, inexpensive (and cute) DIY trick is to buy (or use ones you already own) tall standing bookshelves or wall organizers as a series of wall partitions that, when combined, create a new space. Use this physical barrier to block off a section of a shared interior space such as a living room, or a corner of your bedroom- if square footage allows! You can use two or three of these shelving units to construct a square or triangle study, and though it’s not a soundproof solution, the visible barrier from the rest of the shared space is enough to feel focused. Next, fill the wall shelf or bookcase with books, knick-knacks, and sculptural pieces to further block off visibility. Consider adding medium-sized succulents or even hanging plants to the shelving unit for a nice pop of green and a natural air purifier!

Partitions

Of course, the most standard solution to creating a home office within your open floor plan is to install large Sliding Glass Wall Partitions or floor-to-ceiling sliding glass room dividers. With these flexible wall partitions from The Sliding Door Company, you can create entire rooms without construction or disruption! Because they offer innovative glass wall dividers ranging from sliding glass Barn doors, to Bi-Fold Doors, you can choose from a number of solutions and then customize your partitions to match the interior of your home! Plus, their team of professional installers will come and install your unique partitions in a matter of hours- not days or weeks. That means no moving apartments, no major remodeling, and no stress about creating your dream office. During these turbulent times, the best way to combat an overwhelming workday is to find space where it doesn’t exist!

Plants

People have been utilizing plants as spatial dividers for centuries, from lining pathways to planting “privacy plants” as a living solution to an outside fenceline. Now, we bring the plants inside to do the same. And in order to create the most ideal enclosed environment, you’ll need to invest in plants that have some height to them in order to achieve the visible obstruction you need for your home office.

Consider indoor plants such as:

Fiddle Leaf Fig

Albertina Banana Leaf

Madagascar Dragon Leaf

Bamboo Palm Slate

Mass Cane

Bird of Paradise

Cactus

After you bring your beautiful new plants home, arrange them in neat single-file rows to form a “living wall”. Give them enough space to grow and sprawl so their leaves aren’t knocking into each other. Then, make sure you understand how much water you’ll need to give each of them per week so that you aren’t over or under watering them. Then fill the inside space with your office desk, computer, filing cabinets, and whatever else you’ll want to feel like you’re in a fully enclosed office. Then sit back, relax in your new indoor/outdoor sanctuary, and enjoy the fresh air!

Now that you have the basics for transforming your home into a work-from-home haven, let the interior remodeling begin! For more info on the floor to ceiling wall partitions and Sliding Room Dividers from The Sliding Door Company, check us out online. Book a free consultation with one of our representatives and start your hotel transition today!

Hotels Transition to Accommodate Changing Times

Interior Design Trends

The hotel business has suffered tremendously during this global pandemic, causing significant job loss in the hospitality industry, as well as deserting towns and emptying lodgings across the globe. Yet, what many don’t realize, is that the hotel business as we know it was already suffering a slow demise long before COVID-19 hit our shores last January. The reality is, people had already begun transitioning towards more intimate, thoughtful boutique hotels and short-term vacation rentals over the past five-plus years. Why?

Many feel that the outdated model (and aesthetic) of the mega-hotel franchise has rounded its course, leaving patrons craving innovation, seeking something different. The modern traveler wants to feel as though their stay is unique, aesthetically considered, and catered to them, specifically. They crave picturesque moments and social media-worthy photo opts, as opposed to large breakfast buffets, oversized pools, and stuffy rooms. Large, outdated hotels have needed to contemporize for quite some time. It’s only recently through this pandemic, that many franchise hotels have been forced to reconsider their businesses.

Some of them did. Others did not. And those that didn’t adapt fast enough took a much harder hit to the pandemic than those that did. Yet, for the franchise hotels of today that are still living in the past decade, hope is on the horizon.

Without much warning or time, larger hotels have been forced to evolve their business tremendously, not only to compete with boutique hotels but also to appeal to the modern traveler during our modern crisis. In order to stay afloat during this global pandemic, hotels have had to reduce capacities, cater more towards the individual, and implement safety precautions. All of these evolutions have indeed modernized the hotel industry.

Tasked with updating these grand buildings to meet the modern moment, interior designers, engineers, hotel managers, and space designers alike have been on the constant search for the right spatial solutions and updates to bring into their business. If you’re tasked with this job, you may be in need of some serious inspiration!

The Return to Simplicity

One of the key differentiating characteristics between boutique hotels and large franchise hotels is the sophisticated simplicity of smaller-sized stays. Similar to serving sizes at a restaurant, less is usually more, in hospitality terms. We live in a world of excess, so when that excess is challenged, more often than not, people appreciate the stark contrast of well-considered minimalism. Boutique hotels are typically very choosy about what they put into their rooms and shared spaces. The furniture, the art, the complimentary extras. All of the details end up becoming a special moment for guests to enjoy and consider.

To accommodate for COVID safety restrictions, larger hotels have actually had to reduce the amount of furnishings in their shared spaces such as dining rooms and lounges, in efforts to socially distance their patrons. In most cases, the less-is-more movement of this year has actually worked in their favor, making their interior spaces more open and artful.

Catering To the Individual

Something that larger franchise hotels tend to miss is the care for the individual. Larger hotels are often focused on getting as many people in and out per night as possible, often forgetting that the details matter and that people like to be catered to. Certain considerations like complimentary gifts, help with luggage up to one’s room, and the latest luxury consideration- social distancing. In order to compete with smaller-scale hotels that appeal to Covid travelers, your hotel needs to consider spatial distancing throughout your interior floor plan. From the minute your guests walk through the door, to their rooms and shared spaces, each environment should be carefully constructed to reflect a concern for safety. There are a number of ways you can tailor safety to the individual, and Sliding Wall Partitions and glass room dividers are a great way to visually maintain safe space apart, all while retaining a lovely visual aesthetic. The Sliding Door Company crafts beautiful, modern glass wall partitions as well as their latest product- Qubi Glass Wall Wrap! In fact, this new innovative design requires no major construction, and can be installed within a day by a team of professionals! These glass partitions also come in hundreds of configurations and glass opacities, making it easier than ever to integrate safety into your hotel interiors.

Now that you have the basics for transforming your hotel into a well-considered “boutique” style stay, let the interior remodeling begin! For more info on Qubi Glass wall partitions and Sliding Room Dividers from The Sliding Door Company, check us out online. Book a free consultation with one of our representatives and start your hotel transition today!

Solutions for an Unknown Future Year

With so many uncertainties, it’s worth considering the potential for new changes to school policy, coronavirus mandates, and the future of our relative schedules. With a change of leadership, there may be significant changes in how we live our lives and carry out our days. If this virus shows no sign of slowing, it’s likely that children and college students will be asked to once again resume school from home. This is why it’s important to think about the future, gear up with the right solutions, and tools to weather this storm and continue exercising the art of the pivot.

Changes to Learning

As it currently stands, with seemingly half of the country still doing remote learning, with the other half back in a physical school environment, there is much unknown as we head into the colder months and high flu season, we might see things change more rapidly than not. If the election determines a new president, we may start to see some significant changes surrounding education in terms of COVID policy. If schools are asked to send students home starting in 2021 for remote learning, you’ll want to arm yourself with the appropriate tools to ensure your children are getting in a full day of learning without major disruptions or distractions coming from the home. A great way to ensure this is to create quiet, concentration spaces for them in the home to act as a homemade classroom. And if you don’t have an extra bedroom available, you’ll want to prepare areas of the living room or open interior space to accommodate for this. Use sliding glass wall dividers to break up shared space or standing glass wall partitions to create an entirely new enclosed classroom for the kids. After all, if last spring showed us anything about a pandemic, it’s that indoor environments are everything.

Working From Home

Just like the kids, if governmental mandates shift and we are all asked to return home for remote work, you’ll want to make sure you have a closed-off office environment in order to have a successful workday free from distractions or stressors. Floor-to-ceiling glass wall partitions are a great physical barrier between your workday and the rest of your home. Especially with so many office supplies, computer supplies, and paperwork, it’s a good idea to create a special space for all of this so that your living environment doesn’t become inundated with office necessities. These sliding room dividers come in an assortment of varying glass opacities, frames, sizes, and accessories in order to perfectly suit your unique home. Never worry about quality again, as these glass wall dividers are made from extremely durable glass, manufactured with safety and longevity as a top priority. Glass is also exceptionally easy to wipe down, clean, and disinfect, making it easier than ever before to guard you and your loved one against this flu season!

Flexibility Counts

Flexibility very well might be the word of 2020, whether we want to admit it or not. Being asked to be flexible with our work schedules, our children’s schedules, and in general, our lives, this pandemic has asked us all to maintain an unprecedented level of flexibility. With sliding room dividers and sliding glass wall partitions, you can achieve the flexibility you need for an ever-changing world.

Help cap airborne contamination between you and your family this fall season with the most reliable physical barriers available! Arm yourself with the best spatial solutions available so you’re ready for this flu season and the potential for some big changes. Schedule a free consultation with one of our team members and learn how you can update your space with the most flexible, stylish glass wall dividers for your unique home!